Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Neil - Congrats on the award nomination. How cool! (what do happy
author noises sound like?)

Len - If you could get some photos of the performance, I'd love to see
them. It sounds like you've really outdone yourself (as have the
kids). I used to think it was pretty cool that my high school had a
show choir (I even got to sing bits from _The Little Mermaid_ at
Disneyland!), but I'm floored with your intentions for jr. high
students. WOW!

Emily - I know what you mean about the language thing. Trying to
explain to my mother what exactly makes Wallace & Gromit funny is a
painful task. Yet she finds endless amounts of humour in listening to
Americans say things like "Toyota" or "Isuzu"... And she could never
understand why people have such a difficult time with Shakespeare,
since all the Japanese translations took care of the
several-hundred-years of language drift.

Okay, enough rambling and procrastinating, must go to work now, so I
can have free sushi later. Mmmm, unagi!!!

-squeaks, who must remember that frosting and 'nilla wafers do not a
good breakfast make.
  

    
Congratulations Neil!  And I'm with Michelle, what do happy author
noises sound like? :)

I do agree with you in that I wish Stephen King had written more about
language in his book.  I think one of the things I like about reading
is hearing a different voice in the English language.  I think that is
why I like to read more stuff outside of fantasy and SF because I want
to read quality books and not just a book that happens to be about a
ghost or a spaceship.

I do have a question for you, and for everyone for that matter: Can
good writing be taught in a classroom?  A professor and I had a debate
in class about this one time, and he was a firm believer that he could
take anyone off of the street and teach them how to write.  I agreed
that a person could learn the mechanics of writing, but that there
needed to be a spark of talent in a person to separate them from
everyone else that happens to write. It's just the question of whether
they have that spark or not rather than their plot, setting, etc.

What do you think?
  

    
Neil - Congratulations on the nominations! ^_^ Somehow I imagine happy
author noises to resemble an owl cooing... And have fun at the ice
hotel... *brrr* Keep warm!

Len - From what you've described, your production has got some really
good stuff going for it. I especially like your idea for 'image
creatures' for your players' parts. I've done a bit of theatre work
while I was in school, and I've found that an image like that helps an
actor focus and also perhaps helps any slightly shyer, or newer, people
to open themselves and explore and stretch into the character more...
plus it also gives a definite flavour to the interpretation, aided and
accentuated with the costuming, and should prove interesting, I think.
Let us all know how it goes. ^_^ 

Michelle and Emily -  American/British English: man, just getting
'soda,' 'soft drink' and 'pop' straight! X_X I lost my British accent
when I went to the States, but it slips out once in a while and my
friends get a kick out of it, what with random words I say, like
'queue'... Working at the office I'm in right now, I'm picking British
back up, with random bits of Australian and mixing it with the remnants
of American. *aaarrrrgggghhhh* Now I just sound like I don't where I'm
from. 

And Wallace and Gromit!! *Gromit-kun!* *hearts!* Unagi... reminds me
of a Friends episode... ^_^; 

(And I'm glad your mom's entertained by people's botched
pronounciations, Michelle... I've seen some rather spectacular
manglings of Chinese/Japanese words myself... but I think the worst
thing that comes to mind is that trend for wearing Chinese/Japanese
kanji, on t-shirts, as tattoos... I mean, most of the words are usually
either harmless or completely nonsensical, but do people who wear them
even know what they mean? My sis was very tempted to go up to people
and make up some story about the words they were wearing... And the
calligraphy doesn't even look nice! All blocky and what the
manufacturer thinks kanji should look like... I think I'm actually a
bit offended. hmph.)

Anyway, Happy Chinese (Lunar) New Year! ^_^;

-- Mimi 
  

    
        Just to toss in my two cents on the talent/skill issue: This past
semester, I took a screenwriting workshop here at Reed.  Folks were
mostly okay, one guy startlingly good, one girl embarassingly bad,
about the mix you'd expect at a college for smart people.  There were
two girls, though, who were perfect diametric opposites.  One had a
great deal of skill, no matter how you looked at it, but underneath all
of that there was no talent.  The other, the one I wound up dating,
had no skill at all, just clunky and striking wrong notes all over the
place.  I mean, it took her a month just to turn off the "Formal"
setting on MS Word that kept taking out all her contractions.  But her
characters lived and interacted and had a world you could feel, even if
this came filtered through dialogue that'd make William Shatner wince
and scenes that went nowhere.
        The clearest dichotomy came with their third acts.  Skillgirl had her
interesting-if-flat characters with their snappy dialogue lurch
through a painfully unresolved resolution, a titanic failure of
imagination.  She simply couldn't think of a good way to work it out. 
It almost hurt.  Talentgirl, on the other hand, brought everything to a
head in one funny, unexpected scene that cast the main character in a
flattering new light.  It had the difficult quality of being both quite
unexpected and, given what had been set up, totally inevitable. 
Unfortunately, the scene went on two pages too long, as she didn't know
when to end it.
        To sum up, in my humble opinion, writing is a learnable skill, a form
of communication like any other.  Creativity, however, is something
that you have or don't have by the age of eight or so.  Maybe it's
possible to learn or acquire it later, but I haven't personally seen it
done.
  

    
Congratulations on the PEN recognition!
  

    
Neil - congrats on the nomination!  For some reason the happy author
noises reminded me of when I was small and my dad told me to make
friends with rabbits I had to "make a sound like a carrot".  I truly
tried to figure out what sounds a carrot makes.  

Emily - I love Bill Bryson.  :-)  I read some of his books a couple of
years ago (mother tongue and made in america) and found them just
fascinating.  Further on the language front, I am taking a Linguistics
class that is rapidly turning into the most fun of my week.  We've got
Americans from the North, South, East and West, a girl from Turkey a
girl from China and... well, it's just a wonderful mix and we get to
hear all of these wildly different pronunciations.

Brent - To be able to teach someone writing... I agree that you can
teach most people the mechanics of it but some people just lack the
creativity.  A relative of mine once confided that she literally had no
imagination, she couldn't close her eyes and make pictures in her
head.  (Which made me realise why I've always made her slightly
uncomfortable)  The english/writing teachers I've always hated the most
are the ones that teach mechanics and plot and such.  My favorite
teacher who I take all the time is a wonderful guy who throws out the
syllabus the second week and pretty much lets us create the class. 
Almost everything I've written I started in one of his classes.  But I
know writers who are the other way around and prefer strict classes. 
I'm not sure anymore what I'm talking about. 

Len - more and more I am wanting to see this show.

Jen, who just happens to be wearing a Wallace and Gromit t-shirt.
  

    
Neil-- the lovers make me laugh every time I watch them-- and I've
seen them an awful lot...  I wish I could post selected bits of the
play in Quicktime or something-- I'm really proud of everyone involved.

btw...the HS librarian came to me recently to find out what's been
going on in F/SF in the last 10 years, and to ask for a list of books
to purchase.  I couldn't praise you highly enough... I hope to have a
full set of hardcover Sandmans, Neverwheres, Stardusts and Smoke and
Mirrors by next year in school.  Of course your nomination for the PEN
award lends me credibility (and that's all I really need you for-- lent
credibility.)  The list also included Yolen, DeLint (who I don't love
but recognize that others do,) Stephenson, Sterling, Gibson,
uhhhh...Cooper, Pullman, Francesca Lia Block, Alan Moore, Scott McCloud
and a bunch of others... the usual suspects.

Michelle-- I will try to post some pics-- the costume designer's wife
is a demon with a digital camera. (no, not literally.)

Re: learning to write.  As a writing teacher, I have to weigh in
here-- IMHO, almost anyone can write something good... it takes
patience and a willingness to be open to the world but anyone can
become a better observer and anyone can record what they observe and
think about-- and as they do it, they get better at it.

The real killer is the fear of doing it wrong.  Some of my students
are so traumatized by teachers in earlier grades that they never get
over the stigma of writing something "wrong--" as if creative writing
CAN be wrong.  I could go into a tirade about Dubya's evangelical faith
in standards and constant testing, but this is the wrong place.

I do believe that the best writing is the riskiest-- the kind that
cuts closest to the bone.  People can learn craft but they already have
heart... they just have to learn how to access it.

Which is not to say that anyone can win a PEN award... just that I
think that it's the people who are honest, brave and hardworking in
their writing that emerge as "creative," they are the Talentgirls. The
Skillgirls are the ones who are less brave and hardworking, and are
hiding behind sophisticated craft.

I hate the word creative, by the way.  To say that someone is creative
always seems to communicate either (1) you don't understand them, or
(2) they're touched by the muse and didn't have to work at developing
their gifts-- they just came naturally.

Sorry to rant-- teachers' nerves are close to the surface (I'll have
to see a specialist in Zurich.)
  

    
Brent, Yes, I think that, with education, everyone can write. I am not
convinced that everybody should write. I've read too many books and
stories by people who should have been discouraged from writing in no
uncertain terms. With gunpowder if necessary.

Emily -- yup, been a big Bill Bryson fan for years. Ever since his
dictionary of English Usage... the title of which i was about to give
you and then I realised that Someone's Been Mucking Around with my
reference books. Than which there is nothing worse that can befall an
author. argh.

Michelle -- half way between a contented cat and an excited carrot.

Len -- agreed. Everyone is creative, until it's beaten out of them. 

...

A query: is the use of the word ginger to describe beard colour
exclusively british, or can it be american as well? I suppose I could
use sandy (which pushes more to brown) or red/orange, which are to my
way of thinking much brighter beard colours... any thoughts?
  

    
"Ginger" is uncommon as a hair-color descriptor in America, but I think 9
out of 10 American readers would understand it perfectly well; probably
more.
  

    

"half way between a contented cat and an excited carrot" is a great pseud,
but I don't think I want to be mistaken for a happy author noise.
  

    
Neil -- congrats on the nomination.  Just got back my Smoke and
Mirrors and read The Wedding Present again.  What is a teasmade
exactly?  And the use of ginger should work fine to describe a beard.

Emily -- I've seen a movie called Made in America, don't know if it's
the same thing though.  Maybe based on Bryson's book but don't know.

Len -- Don't overlook Terry Bisson in getting books for the library. 
His book Bears Discover Fire is a great short story collection.  And
the production sounds great.

Daniel  (who is finding more and more casual acquaintances that don't
recognize him now that he has a beard, which is decidedly not ginger in
color.  Or colour.)
  

    
Daniel -- check out http://www.teasmade.com/

I've trimmed about 4,000 words of fat from the novel so far, up to
chapter 13 -- should finish the final edit on the book tomorrow.
  

    
madman - received the sandmans today.  They are in much better
condition than I had expected, they look pretty much right out of the
bookstore to me, email me with your info and I'll send SoM along.

Len - Some things I would have loved to have in my high schools
library was Pratchett, and The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (patricia c.
wrede), and The Darkangel trilogy (meredith ann pierce).  Also would
have looooved the fairy tale anthologies by Ellen Datlow and Terri
Windling, 'Snow White, Blood Red' 'Black Thorn, White Rose' Etc.  Oh,
and The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox by Barry Hughart.  I
just realized the only book I ever got around to donating to them was
The Princess Bride.  I also really liked Jordans the Wheel of Time back
then.  That series taught me how to come up with 'theories' and how to
use said theories to get flamed on usenet.  :-)  Anyway...

Jen, off to watch Red Green.
  

    
You work too fast!  I haven't even read the draft yet!
  

    
Len - look forward to seeing the pics, and I'll second Jen B's praise
for the faerie tale anthologies - they are fabulous collections. (not a
particular fan of Wrede, but to each his own). For my own taste, I'd
also add Tara K. Harper and Michael Flynn to the list.

Neil - So it's a bit like the sound of caramels melting in your mouth?
:) And ginger is a fine colour-description (though I always associate
the word with tom-cats). 

Completely nothing to do with anything here, but it's in my head so
I'll mention it - Was having dinner with a friend last night and used
the term "IRL" in my conversation, which was abruptly halted by his
ensuing laughter. Anyone else have this problem of using your internet
terminology IRL?

squeaks - who must next time remember to add the coffee to the caramel
AFTER coating the apples... this should be interesting.
  

    
Re: fairy tale anthologies, have you read Andrew Lang's fantastic Colored
Fairy Books?  There are about a dozen of them, published from about 1895
through 1910.  They are wonderful.
  

    
Michelle - Me liking Wrede does have quite a bit to do with being in
Jr. High and never reading any fairy tale with a princess like Cimorene
before.  Although there is also something to be said for rabbits named
Killer changing into insubstantial, seven foot tall, blue, winged,
floating donkeys.  

This may sound like a silly question, but in the interests of avoiding
doing anything constructive...

I am starting to send out stories, and on the off chance I get
something published, I need to decide what name I want on my stuff.  I
have decided to stick with my real name because it's easier, but the
thing is, I hate my real name.  Jennifer Brown.  Should I go with
Jennifer, Jen or J.?  Feel Free To Ignore This Post.  :-)

Jen
  

    
Re: fantasy authors and fairy tale collections-- all suggestions
noted, and will be forwarded to the school librarians posthaste.

Jen-- what's your middle name?

About to hit the sack with S. King's _On Writing._  Production Week
ahead...banzaiiiii!!!
  

    
Len - my middle name is Lynn and my confirmation name is Catherine. 
Well, my middle name is Lynn everywhere except at college.  They
already had so many Jennifer L Browns there that I am instead Jennifer
X Brown which I think is kinda neat.  :-)

Jen
  

    
Len -- Hope it's not too late to mention Robin McKinley's books Beauty
and The Blue Sword.  I was lucky enough to find them in my junior high
library and have read them many times since.  Also if Ursula LeGuin's
Earthsea series isn't there it should be.  And if your library has a
lot of money to throw around some fantasy books with a lot of art in
them, like Brian Froud's Fairies book, couldn't possibly go amiss.  Oh
yeah, and Tatterhood and Maid of the North are collections of feminist
fairy tales which are seriously cool.

Neil EI'm sorry to hear about the moving of your reference books.  I
know how awful that can be.  I'm interested in the Bryson title, so if
you find it please let me know.  Is it true that Bryson is more popular
among British than Americans?  I was introduced to him by a British
friend this year and had not heard of him before that.  Also, for an
American, he certainly uses a lot of British spelling conventions.

Jen -- If your middle name is interesting you can go with the R.
Quimby Puddlesnuck model (thus erasing Jennifer).  Or in fact, even if
your middle name isn't interesting.  I always thought Jennifer was a
lovely name though, if it's any comfort to you.  :)

Mimi and Michelle -- I think the Japanese are equally adept at
twisting English as we are at mangling Japanese.  Itfs just that
theyfve adopted more.  Actually, according to Bill Bryson, ghoochh
comes from guchih, so maybe wefve taken more than I know.  Anyway,
people here often think I understand katakana words because gtheyfre
Englishh, even though they are anything but.  I figure the trend of
tattooing sushi menus on yourself is fair exchange for the strange
English the Japanese produce... Ifve had so much pleasure from
T-shirts and bags and vending machines etc. that Ifm happy my culture
will eventually be able to repay in kind.  

Maybe you could produce a book of beautiful calligraphy for the
reference of tattoo artists and t-shirt printers, Mimi?  Along with
explanations of meaning and connotation?  You would be doing a favor
both for those who canft read Chinese characters and those who can.  I
know I would buy it, anyway.
  

    
Emily - Ohhh yes, McKinley.  I wandered into Half Price Books this
morning and found The Door In The Hedge which made me extremely happy. 
Did you ever read her books The Hero and The Crown and
ohcrapIcan'tbelieveI'veforgettenthetitle.  Um, it's a short story
collection, the hardback has a woman in a blue dress on the cover in a
field of yellow flowers, um... A Knot In The Grain and Other Stories. 
You'll definitely want to read those two if you liked The Blue Sword. 
Those are the ones my school library had and I too read them over and
over.  :-)  I picked up a copy of her book Deerskin last year... one of
the few fiction books that's been able to disturb me.  On the name
thing, seeing as how I already have stuff printed up with Jennifer, I'm
going to be lazy and just go with that.  And it is a comfort knowing
someone likes it.  :-)

Jen.
  

    
Neil - On the "ginger" question, I think most American readers will
understand what you mean. If you say "sandy," they'll think blond. BTW,
congrats on the nomination. 

Brent - On the talent/skill question...I think writing can definitely
be taught. A talented writer can blow someone away with their words,
but they rarely put in the time and effort necessary to put their words
on paper. Yet less talented writers who spend day after day honing
their skills can always become "great" writers. To me, a great writer
needs to have a combination of talent, skill, persistence and luck to
succeed. 

And now...just to toot my own horn a bit...I did an interview with
Neil back in October to promote the Guardian Angel tour. It was
nominated in the "Best Nonfiction Article on the Web" category of the
Preditors & Editors Reader Poll (http://www.critters.org/predpoll/). As
of Jan. 29, it was in first place. So thanks, Neil. :-)

Jade
  

    
Emily-- McKinley and LeGuin are both on the list; I actually haven't
read any McKinley, but my wife's a fan.  And we both love Ursula.
  

    
Len -- oh, good.  as a junior high teacher, do you sometimes have the
uncomfortable realization that you are literally influencing lifelong
thought patterns?  anyway, you can't go wrong with Neil and Ursula and
Robin in the school library.  :)

Jade-- I just went and voted for you.  Congratulations.  :)
  

    
Michelle - I work for an ISP so I do hear a lot of people use Internet
terms when talking to me.  And, it's almost always customers, not the
employees. I don't think we do because it's a way of keeping our
sanity.  One of the problems I have outside of work is slipping into
work-related jargon when someone asks what I did that day.  My friends
are like, "Ok, you're not at work anymore..."  I love them to death. 
They will always keep my grounded.

Jade - Congrats on the interview nomination!  I'm going to go vote for
you as soon as I'm done here. :)

This is a little off-topic, but I found a beautiful song at the Cure's
website.  It's a remake of Pirate Ships by Wendy Waldman.  It's at
http://www.thecure.com/news.html  Now I'm going to drag out old Cure
CD's that I haven't listened to in years.